Bristol Gets Development Award

It’s another award for the Bristol community – this time for community development.

The Bucks County Commissioners have awarded Bristol Borough $121 thousand under the federal Community Development Block Grant. This is a grant which provides funding to perform a wide range of unique development needs. Allocations are made to the state, and each county is then given a portion to award their areas in order to perform needed upgrades or new development in those towns.

For Bristol, this means seven intersections in the vicinity of the Snyder-Girotti Elementary School will receive upgraded curb ramps in compliance with upgraded regulations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This is part of an ongoing upgrade process, according to Bristol Borough Engineer Amanda Fuller and Manager James Dillon.

The intersections are along Beaver and Buckley Streets, and will provide these corners with “Detectable Warning” areas under the new ADA requirements. This is the raised dome portion recently appearing in many intersections and allows for a better identification of the ramp area and edge of the curb for the vision impaired.

These upgrades will assist the more than 300 residents in the immediate area of the school.

With this award, the borough will now be surveying the intersections and design the upgrades. Once this is completed the bidding will begin, and it is hoped that work will begin by this summer.

Special Olympics 2018

Let the Games Begin!

Halfway across the world, athletes are competing to see who is the best in sports at the Winter Olympic Games being held in PyeongChang, South Korea. Every four years the world gathers for these games, and for a little while there is unity and friendly competition amongst the countries of

the world.

But every year, there is another group of athletes which participate in their own Olympic Games. The competitions begin in mid-Spring, culminating with a State-level games in June - but their practices have already started. Every Saturday morning, Coach Tom Delaney gathers the local athletes at Harry

S. Truman High School to get these special participants prepared for the start of the 2018 Pennsylvania Special Olympics Summer Games season. For Delaney and his athletes, the first competition is at Council Rock North High School, on April 21^st.

From the standing long jump, to long distance running, the Special Olympics Summer Games bring track and field participants out for a day filled with fun and friendly competition in the same spirit as the traditional world event every four years. Coach Delaney has been running the Life Skills

program for Truman, and been involved with the Special Olympics program for over 30 years. Last year he was chosen to be the Head Coach for the Pennsylvania track and field team which will head to Seattle, WA in July for the National Special Olympics.

While heading to the national competition is a great honor, Delaney knows it all starts on the local level every year, with the special athletes and their families that he works with on a daily basis. Being honored with the selection as head coach for the national games, it is an accomplishment which recognizes the ongoing efforts he has achieved in working with his “extended family” of athletes. When not coaching, Delaney is a vocal advocate of Special Olympics, working fundraisers to promote awareness of the events, the athletes, and their families.